Those of you that prune indeterminate varieties of tomato- How many main stems do you allow to grow? My brother built me some really sturdy 6 ft cages so hopefully I won't have to deal with a cage collapse when they start bearing fruit. I'm in Arizona, and should not have frost until late Nov.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I do not prune my tomatoes. I make my own tomato cages from fence wire or concrete-reinforcing wire. They are sturdy and durable -- I have several that have lasted 20 years. By training the shoots on the frame, as the plant grows upward, that allows the plant to grow up to 9 or 10 feet tall and form a canopy with the tops of plants in the next row. The plant will then produce from 3 to four levels of blooms and fruit.
wordywalt
Level 9
June 28, 2019
2
If you only have one or two plants, by all means trim and pamper, more than that, you are only adding work for the tomatoes you are going to give away.
glennlab
Level 10
June 28, 2019
1
@CrazyQuilter there is conflicting research out right now as to whether pruning increases tomato output over the life of the plants. I typically will pinch prune those stems that are lower and either have no fruit or finished fruiting. It seems to work for me, I finally cut down the number of tomatoes that I plant I've got 6 this year, but 4 are cherry cultivars.
@CrazyQuilter with those parameters, I would go for one v shaped branching on the main trunk and remove most suckers, so that it looks like a tomato hook worm has attacked the plant. They can survive and even thrive with only mimmal foliage. You get about the same amount of sun that I do, but i believe that you will have more sub 80 degree nights (the maximum temp that blossoms naturally set fruit) so upright cages should do well. The more daytime heat you have, the smaller you should want the fruit to be.
@freeofgod there are certain cultivars that work best in the south for "fall" tomatoes (plant in July harvest sept-Nov). The large varieties work best where you have a longer cool season at night. Ox-heart, beefsteak, and other giants take so long to mature that they end up losing a lot of their fruit to sunscald, and other heat related problems. Another reason I plant more cherry and grape tomatoes.
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